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Tuesday, May 12, 2015

EU asks U.N. to sanction military action against migrant boats in North Africa

(CNN) The
European Union, facing a rising tide of migrants, asked the United
Nations on Monday to authorize military action to destroy boats used to
smuggle people from Africa to Europe.

Federica
Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief, outlined for the U.N.
Security Council the EU's plan to destroy boats used by smugglers as
long as the boats are known to be empty.

The
boats are used to transport people who are bent on escaping violence,
or desperate for a better life, from North Africa primarily to Italy --
which happens to be Mogherini's home country.

Many
of the migrants are from sub-Saharan Africa and Syria, or are foreign
workers who have lost their livelihoods. They know that traffickers can
take them to Europe from Libyan shores.

But
many die at sea. More than 3,400 migrants died in 2014, according to
estimates from the U.N refugee agency. And nearly 2,000 have lost their
lives already this year, the agency estimates.

Libyan army chief opposes military action

Mogherini said the EU could not stem mass migrations on its own.

"This has to be a common global effort," she said.

Any migrants found on the boats will be
processed as refugees or asylum seekers, she said, rather than being
forced to return to their home countries.

But
the proposal will not meet with unanimous approval in the region. In an
interview with CNN's Becky Anderson at the end of April, Libyan army
head Gen. Khalifa Haftar said his country had not been consulted, would
not cooperate -- and, he hinted, might even resist military action on
its territory.

EU might require specific numbers to be accepted

The
EU is also pushing a plan to accommodate those migrants who do make it
to Europe -- one that will not meet with universal approval on the
continent. The plan, a draft of which CNN has seen, would call for
quotas on the number of migrants each EU country would be required to
take in.

A spokeswoman for the
European Commission said repeatedly Monday that the document was still
being redrafted, and she would not comment on whether any EU countries
would be able to opt out of the quotas.

The commission, which is the EU's executive arm, will consider the proposal Wednesday.

UK opposes mandatory quotas

Britain has already made it clear that it opposes quotas.

"The
UK has a proud history of offering asylum to those who need it most,
but we do not believe that a mandatory system of resettlement is the
answer," a representative for the British Home Office said. "We will
oppose any EU Commission proposals to introduce a nonvoluntary quota."

Skepticism
of the EU runs high in Britain, as does concern over the number of
migrants entering the country. David Cameron, the newly re-elected Prime
Minister, has promised to hold a nationwide referendum by the end of
2017 on whether the UK should leave the EU.